Whole Wheat Triple Chocolate Banana Muffins

We have what I like to call a “stash” of frozen, over-ripe bananas in our freezer. And it seems as if that “stash” replenishes itself at an exponential rate. It’s not that the bananas don’t get eaten, because Eric and Logan both love them. But I think every once in a while a batch of bananas ripens a little too quickly.

I don’t do anything special to the over-ripe bananas to store them in the freezer. I know some like to mash and pre-measure amounts for their favorite banana recipes, but I just toss the banana in the freezer. Peel and all.

Not fond of the texture or really even the taste of plain bananas, Madeline and I only like ti eat them if they are cooked into something. So our stash is quite often made into Multi-Grain Banana Bread (or muffins). This time I was ready for a change. Something a little different.

Adding chocolate chips to banana bread isn’t a new thing, but I thought I’d try toying with the batter and making that chocolate as well. As Logan would say: “Deeeeeeeeelicious!”

Of course you don’t have to use over-ripe bananas for Banana Bread or Muffins. There are lots of other uses for the fruit.

5 (Other) Ways to use Over-Ripe Bananas

1. Smoothies

Frozen bananas are great added to smoothies. It would be easiest to peel the bananas and freeze them in individual bags for this use. That way you can grab a frozen banana without waiting for it to thaw so you can peel it. Slice, dice and toss it in. Recipe to try: Banana Berry Smoothies

2. Oatmeal

Ripe banana puree would be great stirred into a bowl of your morning oatmeal. A little extra sweetness without any refined sugar.

3. Pancakes

Substitute part of the liquid (milk, butter milk, water, oil, butter…whatever you feel like experimenting with) for some banana puree in your favorite Pancake Recipe. I haven’t tried it yet, but I bet banana would do well in these Healthier Whole Wheat Waffles.

4. Cookies

Surely you’ve taste or maybe even made pumpkin cookies? Why not swap out the pumpkin puree for banana puree to give it a different flavor?

5. Healthy Ice Cream

That’s right, I said healthy and ice cream in the same phrase. Check out this One Ingredient Banana Ice Cream recipe. What a perfect way to get a sweet fix without busting any New Year’s Resolutions. Or maybe you’d just rather your kids have a healthy treat once in a while.

These muffins were perfect for me. The banana wasn’t too strong, but it was still there to add moistness and some additional nutritional value to the muffins.

They also froze very well (once completely cooled) in gallon sized Ziploc bags. Perfect for busy mornings during the week…or late evening cravings for chocolate.

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, sugar, cocoa, flax, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.

In another medium bowl, combine the banana puree, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until combined. Stir in the butter.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Then, stir in the chocolate chips, reserving about 1/4 cup or so for sprinkling on top of the muffins.

I always stash my over ripe bananas in the freezer and then thaw them in the microwave when I’m ready to use them. Banana bread is one of my favorites, but I’ve used them for cakes and pancakes, too.

Great tips and recipe.. this is a fantastic post!!!

You read my mind! I was just enjoying a double chocolate cookie and was really wishing for some type of banana-y flavour in there. Now you’ve given me more excuses to eat chocolate… not that I really needed any. 😉

Great post as always! So pretty Katie!

These look divine. I tried making something VERY similar last week but forgot an ingredient (duh!). They ended up looking horrible (but tasting fine) – so my kids and I called them “close your eyes muffins”

I think these might be just the thing for an upcoming girls’ weekend – thank you for the inspiration!

Chocolate and bannanas -I’m there. One of my favorite combinations. This sounds delicious!

my favorite way to use frozen bananas in a smoothie is to take 1 C plain yogurt, 1 frozen banana, 1 good squirt of agave nectar, and a healthy shake of cinnamon. whiz it together and it tastes like a snickerdoodle!

Great recipe & tips, Katie! I always have a couple of bananas on my counter that need to get used up!

I spent 20 min. writing a comment and when I finally finished Internet Explorer crashed and my comment was lost. So now I will keep it short and straight to the point. I find something interesting to read on your blog every time I visit it. Respect!

My husband will love these! Great pictures, and thanks for another yummy recipe 🙂

Triple chocolate? Don’t mind if I do!

We use over-ripe bananas in our whole wheat buttermilk pancakes all the time & I don’t ever bother changing my standard recipe, I just toss the mashed up bananas straight in the batter, I’ve never really ended up with a too runny batch.

These look fantastic! I’m always looking for things to do with overripe bananas 🙂

I wish I had some overripe bananas around!

Oh yes! These look delicious!

Every now and then I go through this phase where I buy bananas every time I go to the store, but I never actually eat all of them… and there’s only so much banana bread a single person can make and eat. (At least me, anyway).

The muffins look amazing. Definitely putting this in pretty high on my recipes to try list.

These are mouthwatering, Katie! I have been trying to use whole wheat flour more often and this recipe goes to my to try list right now.
Oh, I have used bananas in cookies with great results, highly recommended!

Beautiful photos, as usual.
xx

YIkes, these are right up my alley! I’m going to make them for my daughter to take back to college on Saturday. One more reason to keep buying Costco bananas! There are always a few that are overripe by the time we get to eating them. Thanks for another great banana recipe.

I love all your ideas for what to do with bananas! I feel like I am constantly trying to use them up before they go bad!

Great tips! Bookmarked for sure.

These photos are beautiful and thank you for the idea of freezing the over-ripe bananas! Mine end up in the trash can if I don’t have time to bake banana bread. I’ll try this recipe next time for sure 🙂

Oh. And for those wanting to do the WW formula there’s 3 grams fiber and 7 grams fat.

These look delicious! Love your creations and photography! 😉

These look so good:)

WOW! These were great! I too had a couple bunches of overripe, whole bananas in my freezer and wanted to make something different. These were perfect! Two thumbs up from all 4 kids and I am so glad I made a double batch! We will have these for breakfast and for snacks and with afternoon tea and with evening tea! Thanks for coming up with this recipe.

I made these last night and they were FABULOUS. My husband even texted me while I was gone to tell me how much he loved them.

I used wheat germ instead of flax seed because that’s what I had.

Oh…my…gosh. Divine. Godsend. Amazing.

THANK YOU for sharing this recipe. First, I had never even thought of freezing overripe bananas…I’ve always held a “use ’em or lose ’em” mentality, so I bake with them immediately. Usually banana bread and then, if I feel so inclined, bread pudding. But these muffins look extraordinary. Can’t wait for my next batch of bananas!

Totally amazing muffins! Can’t get flax here in New Zealand I don’t think, so I put in some chia seed instead…delicious! thankyou so much!

I loved this recipe. Mine were a little dry, I think I didn’t remove them from the pans promptly enough. I’ll definitely be making them again–thanks for renewing my interest in using whole wheat flour–these are delicious.

Wow so yummy! my first batch turned out a little dry too but i think i over-baked them a bit (made them mini so I cut the time in half but I think it needed to be a little less), but the next batch I threw in another banana and they turned out perfect! My 3yr old managed to steal and eat almost half the pan before they cooled enough to bag and freeze.

I just made a half batch of these and they smell really great. I switched some of the ww flour for oats, swapped low-fat buttermilk for the yogurt, and a combination of buttermilk & canola oil for the butter. Can’t wait to try them! THanks.

Is “cold milled flax” flax seeds that have been ground or the whole ones? I have whole flax, could I use that or do you recommend the ground?

Sorry for the late reply, I think this question came through while I was out of town in May and I’m just now seeing it. Cold milled flax is a type of ground flax. Cold Milled refers to the process of how the flax is ground, but yes – you do want to use ground flax in this recipe.

Just wanted to let you know I just made a batch of these and they are delish! THANKS!! 🙂 I did use white whole wheat (I had regular whole wheat, but I’ve been wanting to try the white) , and I omitted the flax because I didn’t have any! Will certainly add it in next time for nutrition.

Celina, I would guess that this uses ground flax. Whole flax seeds aren’t really absorbed into your system, and the healthy oils are released when they are crushed/ground. HTH! 🙂

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Hello! I'm Katie, author of GoodLife Eats Etc. where I share what I find in my life. A mix of great recipes, family memories, adventures, good reads, and anything else that I love is what you will discover here.